Realising its downward spiral in diplomatic and trade relationship with the US, Global Times goes on to mention that the US would 'woo' India by supporting and making it an ally

Since the clash at the Galwan Valley, tensions between India and China have been increasing on the border. Recently, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) accused the Indian army of crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the southern bank of Pangong Lake. 

China’s mouthpiece, Global Times, quoted a PLA spokesperson and tweeted that India "again illegally crossed the Line of Actual Control in Shenpao mountain near the south bank of Pangong Tso Lake on Monday."

This was followed by another tweet reading, "Chinese border defence troops were forced to take countermeasures to stabilize the situation after the Indian troops outrageously fired warning shots to PLA border patrol soldiers who were about to negotiate."

However, the Indian Army rejected China’s allegations. "India, while is committed to disengagement and de-escalating the situation on the LAC, China continues to undertake provocative activities to escalate. At no stage has the Indian Army transgressed across the LAC or resorted to use of any aggressive means, including firing."

"It is the PLA that has been blatantly violating agreements and carrying out aggressive manoeuvres, while engagement at military, diplomatic and political level is in progress. In the instant case on 07 September 2020, it was the PLA troops who were attempting to close-in with one of our forward positions along the LAC and when dissuaded by own troops, PLA troops fired a few rounds in the air in an attempt to intimidate own troops. However, despite the grave provocation, own troops exercised great restraint and behaved in a mature and responsible manner," the Indian Army said.

However, now, the state-run media house, Global Times, has taken the border tension a step ahead and claimed that “history will repeat itself if India makes same border mistake.”

The article, published on the night of September 08, claims that India “illegally crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Monday, and outrageously fired warning shots at Chinese border patrol soldiers”, abandoning the agreement according to which soldiers from both sides are not allowed to use firearms at border.

The article goes on to call India’s alleged decision of using firearms as “irresponsible” but fails to mention the images in which the Chinese soldiers can be seen holding weapons, spears and machete. The state-run media house does claim that “the Chinese troops will be forced to use” firearms if the Indian troops are seen using them.

Continuing the chest-beating narrative, Global Times claims China gave a “crushing defeat” to India in 1962 during the India-China border war, and says “Indian troops do not have enough systemic and joint combat capabilities, which restricts its real combat capability”, even though the Indian army has strengthened its weaponry and combat capability in mountain warfare.

Allies

Realising its downward spiral in diplomatic and trade relationship with the US, Global Times goes on to mention that the US would “woo” India by supporting and making it an ally. The media house adds, “the US will coerce the international community to support India and resist China, taking the opportunity to build Washington's military and political alliances. What makes the US even happier is that it can export all sorts of advanced weapons to India to make handsome profit. The US is also likely to provide military intelligence to India.” However, what Global Times fails to mention are the various reasons behind this decline in diplomatic relationship between China and US, one of them being the novel coronavirus — which is believed to have been lab-made in Wuhan.

Calling the 1962 war “a lesson” for India, Global Times goes on with chest-beating and claims that the “PLA is capable of defeating Indian army” as the PLA has now modernised itself with “informatization capability, systematic combat capability and joint combat capability” as the nation has apparently a strong military industry production capability, in comparison to India as a, what Global Times calls, “half-agricultural and half-industrial.”

While the Chinese side is already claiming victory, the Indian army and the diplomats from the Indian side are urging China to step back and bring back peace at the border.